Reversing history: Trump proposes a "friendly takeover" of Havana.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is engaged in high-level discussions with Cuba and suggested the possibility of what he described as a “friendly takeover” of the communist run island.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House before departing for Texas, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was leading conversations with Cuban officials, The Associated Press reported.
“The Cuban government is talking with us,” Trump said. “They have no money. They have nothing right now. But they’re talking to us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
He repeated the phrase moments later. “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba,” the president said.
Trump did not clarify what he meant by “friendly takeover,” and the White House did not respond Friday to requests for additional details.
The president described Cuba’s current condition in stark terms.
“Cuba is, to put it mildly, a failed nation,” Trump said. “They want our help.”
His comments came two days after Cuba’s government reported that a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the United States opened fire on soldiers off the island’s north coast.
According to Havana, four of the armed Cubans were killed, and six were injured in return fire. One Cuban official was also wounded during the confrontation.
Cuban authorities confirmed earlier this week that they were communicating with U.S. officials following the shooting. Rubio has said the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating the incident.
Cuba has been central to Trump’s foreign policy rhetoric in recent weeks, particularly after U.S. forces ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Havana.
Following that operation, Trump suggested military action against Cuba might not be necessary, arguing that the island’s struggling economy could collapse without oil shipments from Venezuela.
“We’ve had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba. I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I’m a little boy. But they’re in big trouble,” Trump said Friday.
He also referenced the Cuban exile community in the United States, many of whom fled the island decades ago.
“There could be something coming that I think is very positive for the people that were expelled, or worse, from Cuba and live here,” he said.
The United States has maintained a strict trade embargo on Cuba since 1962, a year after the failed CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion.
In late January, Trump signed an executive order pledging to impose tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further strain the island’s fragile energy infrastructure.
U.S. officials have since indicated that Venezuelan oil may still be sold to Cuban interests in limited circumstances
Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, addressed the situation in a post on X that was later deleted.
“The US maintains its fuel embargo against Cuba in full force, and its impact as a form of collective punishment is unwavering,” he wrote.
“Nothing announced in recent days changes this reality,” he added. “The possibility of conditional sales to the private sector already existed and does not alleviate the impact on the Cuban population.”
Meanwhile, more than 40 U.S. civil society organizations sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to “press the Trump administration to reverse its aggressive policy towards Cuba.”
The letter warned that efforts to further restrict oil shipments could spark a humanitarian crisis on the island.
“Policies that deliberately impose hunger and mass hardship on millions of civilians constitute a form of collective punishment, and as such are a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the letter states
Obama Accuses JD Vance Of Promoting ‘Blood And Soil’ Politics
Former President Barack Obama rarely mentions Vice President JD Vance by name, but that changed this week with one of his sharpest public attacks since Vance took office.
The comments immediately fueled speculation that Democrats are beginning to focus more attention on the vice president as Republicans look ahead to the post-Trump era.
Speaking Thursday during a conversation with author Malcolm Gladwell, Obama accused Vance of promoting what he described as a “blood and soil” vision of America, despite being married to Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Obama made the remarks while discussing the Reconstruction era and arguing that many of the same debates over citizenship, voting rights and national identity continue today.
“We have a politics now that at least one of our major parties has been captured by politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘We the people’ means a certain kind of people,” Obama said.
“When you have the vice president, current vice president, making a speech that is basically a blood and soil version of ‘We the people,’ that it matters who your parents were and how long they’ve been here despite him being married to a daughter of an immigrant himself.”
The phrase “blood and soil” is historically associated with Nazi Germany and white nationalist ideology.
Obama went on to argue that debates over who belongs in America remain central to the nation’s politics.
“That echoes, then, ideas about who can be a citizen, who belongs, who gets to make decisions,” he said.
Gladwell followed by accusing Vance of hypocrisy, arguing that the vice president was making what he called a nativist argument despite his own family’s immigrant background.
Obama agreed.
“That is progress,” Obama said.
“Listen, hypocrisy is progress. It is, because it means that you feel guilty enough to either lie to yourself or others.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Obama did not identify the specific speech he was criticizing, but Vance’s most recent nationally televised remarks came during Independence Day celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday.
In that speech, Vance encouraged Americans to reject what he called a “two-dimensional view” of the country focused only on its historical failures.
“So what I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” Vance said.
“Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
He also emphasized that America’s accomplishments were achieved by “a common people working towards a common future.”
Obama has generally avoided making Vance a regular target since the vice president took office.
One notable exception came during the 2024 presidential campaign when then-Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Without naming Vance directly, Obama contrasted Harris’ choice with the Republican ticket.
“When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, it says a lot about who they are and what kind of president they’ll be,” Obama said at the time, Fox News reported.
Political observers have increasingly discussed Vance as a potential frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, though he has not announced any plans to run.
Against that backdrop, Obama’s unusually direct criticism is likely to fuel speculation that some Democrats are beginning to sharpen their message against a politician they view as a likely future standard-bearer for the Republican Party. While no Democratic leaders have publicly described their strategy in those terms, prominent figures often begin drawing contrasts with potential future rivals well before a presidential campaign officially begins.
Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, but Obama’s remarks marked one of his most pointed critiques of Vance to date and ensured the vice president once again found himself at the center of the national political conversation.
Trump Issues Statement Regarding Health of Mitch McConnell
Weeks after former GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was hospitalized for a reportedly serious heart condition, there has been much speculation about his current condition.
Rumors are also swirling about whether he can complete his term, which ends in January.
Initially, reports said that McConnell suffered a “cardiac arrest” and was administered CPR – a health condition that is normally fatal, even for victims much younger than McConnell, who is 84 and has an extensive history of health problems.
But later, in one of the few public updates on the Kentucky Republican’s condition, his staff only said that he was receiving “excellent care.”
However, others who should know more about McConnell’s condition don’t. That includes the president of the United States.
Libby Dean, the White House correspondent for NewsNation, tweeted on Wednesday: “President Trump says he has ‘no idea’ how Sen. Mitch McConnell is doing and says he hasn’t spoken with the Kentucky Republican since McConnell’s hospitalization.”
Now, the governor of the Bluegrass State has grown concerned enough that he has reached out to the senator to inquire about his health.
“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Gov. Andy Beshear,a Democrat who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, wrote in a letter to McConnell on Wednesday.
“As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent,” Beshear’s letter continued.
“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he added.
Several top Republicans were asked about McConnell’s condition on Tuesday, and their responses were not reassuring.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has said that even members of Congress are in the dark about McConnell’s current condition.
Speculation has surrounded the health of the 84-year-old McConnell since the Kentucky senator was found unconscious and required CPR at his home in Washington, D.C., weeks ago.
McConnell’s staff has provided no significant update on his condition since he was hospitalized June 14.
The secrecy has fueled speculation that there is an effort to keep the full extent of the Republican’s condition from the public and has raised questions about whether he will be able to return to office.
On Monday night, MAGA social media user Mila Joy wondered why other senators haven’t spoken out about McConnell’s condition.
“Because they are ALL in on it together. That’s why,” Joy posted to her 571,000 X followers.
In reply, Sen. Lee posted: “Many of us aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition.”
But Lee’s assessment contradicts earlier comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune after McConnell was first hospitalized.
Thune said he had spoken to the 84-year-old and that he “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Thune said on June 15.
Popular conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed recently that sources told her that McConnell is in a “vegetative state,” dismissing Thune’s version of events.
Things with McConnell have gotten worse by the day.
Since the reported incident, McConnell’s office has provided scant details on the former Senate GOP leader’s health condition, except to say that he allegedly “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
His office last week also said the 84-year-old senator “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
